Sierra Nevada Corp. of Sparks delivered its first Mobile Tower System to the U.S. Army ahead of schedule.
The company won a contract last March to build 10 of the systems, and an early-development version has been deployed with the 3rd Infantry Division in Afghanistan since November.
About 100 people at Sierra Nevada’s headquarters are involved in the contract. Their work includes systems design, project management, logistical management, procurement of materials subcontractors and suppliers around the nation, and final assembly and testing.
The Mobile Tower System is an air-traffic control system with secure and non-secure communications radios and support equipment that can be rapidly deployed.
The modular system includes an air-traffic control tower with power generators, a medium intensity solar-powered airfield runway lighting system, and meteorological sensors.
It can be airlifted by C-17 aircraft or by CH-47 helicopter and can be used both for civilian applications — disaster relief or temporary airports to fight forest fires, for instance — as well as military needs.
Army officials attended a ceremony at Sierra Nevada headquarters last week that marked the first delivery of the system.
